New six-division format to be confirmed at Beckett League AGM

Andy Bloomfield

The new-look Readers Scarborough Beckett Cricket League constitution for 2016 will be formally anounced to member clubs at the AGM on Wednesday January 27 sat The Downe Arms Wykeham, 7.30pm start.

The six-division format will accomodate the teams who have moved into the league after the almagamation with the Derwent Valley League, withn 57 teams now in the Beckett League.

The premier division will now include 12 teams, which will include additional Sunday fixtures, playing each other on a home and away basis, while Divisions One and Two will consist of 10 teams,

Division Three will have nine sides and Divisions Four and Five will have eight teams apiece. Teams will be allocated four additional fixtures to fulfil an 18-week season.

Secretary Simon Dobson said “Having a 12-team top flight is a significant move and one we hope will help us retain some of the leading players in the area. It also may prove an attractive proposition for clubs who have moved leagues to re-join us. We really want to progress as a league.”

The premier division will start a week earlier on April 24 and finish on September 4, but these extra games will be played on a Sunday in a break from tradition.

Dobson added “We wanted to avoid any clashes with the local football scene, so a Sunday afternoon for these matches seemed ideal. Two further Sunday matches will also take place in July.”

The main season will commence on Saturday April 30, when all divisions will be in action and Dobson is hopeful of another exciting season, he added: “Last season saw all four divisions ebb and flow, going down to the wire and we would like 2016 to follow a similar pattern across all six divisions.”

Clubs will also vote on several rule changes, with the most important, and complex, being a proposed change, put forward by the league committee, to the points system.

Changes to the bonus points system allowing up to 30 points for a win, A win shall count for 10 points, with two bonus batting points for 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 runs and two bonus bowling points for two, four, six, eight and 10 wickets, meaning a maximum of 30 can be achieved. Rained off matches would remain at five points.

The committee has also proposed a rule change allowing rain affected matches to be played to a minimum of 25 overs as opposed to the present 30 overs rule.

Cloughton have proposed that the lower divisions, Four and Five, should play 30-over matches with a five-over limit per bowler and a 1.30pm start.

The committee is opposed to this rule change as they believe that the 40-over format is an ideal format for lower divisions, still allowing players to develop.

Sewerby has proposed that start times be switched back to 2pm from the current 1.30pm start time.

The clifftop club have also proposed a change to the 15-over ruling which states a player who arrives after the 15th over can only be a fielder.

Sewerby have suggested a change to this rule, changing it to the 20th over.

Four committee directives will also be announced at the meeting.

The first states that no junior players, under the age of 16, should umpire in the games, unless both captains agree prior to the toss for the choice of innings.

The second says each club must complete an official team card and exchange signatures prior to the toss, and team cards are to be submitted online using the results centre.

In matches where panel umpires are standing, the club captains must hand the cards to the umpires who will enter the team card on the results centre.

The third change will see games that end in a tied score in T20 Cayley Cup games will be decided on the following;

A) Teams losing the fewer wickets.

B) Teams conceding the fewest extras.

C) Team scoring the most runs in the powerplay (first six overs).

D) Team bowling the fewest wides.

E) Team scoring the highest boundary aggregate.

In the semi-finals and finals where panel umpires are officiating a super over will take place.

The fourth and final directive states that all Cayley cup semi-finals and finals are to be played on fixed dates set by the competition secretary.

Readers Scarborough Beckett Cricket League constitution for the 2016 season